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The 9 Best Features in macOS Sequoia

Discover top 9 features that make macOS Sequoia a game-changer. Boost productivity, enhance creativity, and enjoy a seamless user experience.

Numerous new features are added with each new macOS release and macOS 15 Sequoia this year is no exception. MacOS 15 Sequoia, which is currently in public beta, has some of most intriguing and promising features of any macOS release to date. Here is some of best features in macOS Sequoia.

Apple Intelligence is one of most important new features of Sequoia. This artificial intelligence was created just for Apple and is capable of handling challenging jobs. It is capable of organizing your images, summarizing web pages and much more. Nevertheless, Sequoia does not yet offer Apple Intelligence. Apple says that later in year, this capability will be accessible. That would be a little early to include it in list of best features that are currently accessible.

While we wait for Apple Intelligence to be fully integrated, macOS 15 Sequoia still has a ton of other features & upgrades that are worth checking out. It is undeniable that Cupertino wanted this iteration of macOS to be among the most sophisticated and approachable to date.

iPhone Mirroring Feature

With the new macOS 15 Sequoia, you can now mirror your iPhone’s screen on your Mac, taking your productivity to the next level. This feature allows you to open an image of your iPhone’s screen right on your Mac and use your keyboard and mouse or trackpad to control your phone. This goes far beyond the traditional screen mirroring that people typically use to watch videos from their Android or iPhone on a TV.

Unlike the existing feature that lets you make calls from your Mac, the new iPhone Mirroring feature allows you to run almost any iPhone app directly from your Mac. Using input devices on your computer, you can fully control your iPhone and swipe through Home Screen and open apps. You can now more easily operate your iPhone without ever touching it thanks to this seamless connection.

Modern safety features have been incorporated to safety your privacy in addition to convenience & enhanced functionality. You can’t see how you use your phone from your Mac when you’re using iPhone Mirroring. So, you may work on sensitive projects without being concerned about curious onlookers.

With macOS 15 Sequoia, you can now see iPhone notifications on your Mac’s screen. When you click on a notification, the app on your iPhone will open on your Mac. In the early beta version of Sequoia, two of my third-party iPhone apps didn’t work with iPhone Mirroring, but I expect these issues to be fixed by the public release.

Text Effects and Emoji in Messages

While Facebook Messenger has stickers, I prefer using Apple’s native macOS and iOS apps when I can. That’s why I’m excited about the new animated stickers in Apple’s Messages app. These stickers add fun and personality to your conversations.

Messages now allows text effects like bold & italic, which aren’t available in Facebook Messenger, in addition to stickers. If you wish to send message when you’re busy or sleeping, you can also schedule it to be sent at later time.

All things considered, these additional capabilities increase usability & versatility of Apple’s Messages app.

Apple’s New Passwords App

For over ten years, people have used third-party password managers to store their passwords, but I’ve always been cautious about keeping my passwords on any external sites. Apple’s new Passwords app is a game-changer. It combines all your website passwords, Wi-Fi passwords, and passkeys into one app that works across macOS and iOS devices. There’s also a promised iCloud Passwords app for Windows.

Although Apple is a bit late in offering a dedicated password manager, their new Passwords app already stands out from the competition. It provides a secure and convenient way to manage all your passwords in one place, making it a strong option for keeping your credentials safe and organized.

Video Presenter Preview

In macOS 15 Sequoia, the new video calling features are both catching up to and surpassing other conferencing software like Zoom. The new Presenter Preview feature lets you choose which windows on your screen are visible to attendees when you share your screen. This is something that other video calling apps have had for a while but is new to Apple’s Messages app. You can also use artificial backgrounds to hide what’s behind you during calls. Apple’s backgrounds are particularly impressive because they include soft, realistic colors, unlike the clunky backgrounds from other apps.

These new video calling features also work with the video conferencing apps you already use. Keep in mind that the background feature might not work perfectly in the early beta version—I noticed it sometimes didn’t appear at all—but Apple is expected to fix these issues before the final release.

A Standalone Viewer in Safari

Safari now has a handy feature for watching videos called the Standalone Viewer. This new viewer allows you to watch any video in a separate, standalone window, similar to how YouTube videos look in the DuckDuckGo browser. To find it, look for a new viewer icon to the left of the address bar in Safari’s menu bar. It might be a bit tricky to find at first, but it’s a useful tool for watching videos without being distracted by other tabs or content.

Math in Notes

Notes app in macOS 15 Sequoia has a new feature for handling math. Just start typing any equation in a Note, and after you type the equal sign, the answer will appear automatically. You can also switch directly to Notes from the Calculator app to finish your calculations. This makes it easy to do quick math without needing to use a separate calculator app.

Vocal Shortcuts

Although Apple hasn’t highlighted this feature much, it allows you to create custom voice commands, similar to how Siri works. You can set up commands to perform a variety of actions just by speaking. To find it: go to System Settings > Accessibility > Vocal Shortcuts. One fun option lets you rename Siri, so you can call it “Computer” and issue commands like Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek!

Window Tiling

Windows users have long been able to snap application windows to different parts of the screen, and now macOS users can do the same without needing a third-party app. Sequoia takes it a step further by allowing you to divide the screen into quarters, not just halves, using a new title bar icon. This feature was a bit awkward in the early betas but has improved with each update.

Audio Transcription in Notes and Voice Memos

In the Notes app, you can now use audio transcription to convert your voice or someone else’s speech into text. This means you won’t miss anything during lectures or meetings, as the app records and transcribes in real time. The Voice Memos app also gets this feature, enhancing its recording capabilities. In the early beta, live transcription was sometimes slow to start, but it eventually works as expected.

Bonus Feature: Trail Maps

With the addition of detailed trail maps to Apple Maps, hiking and exploring no longer require the use of a different program. In addition, a beta version of Maps for usage in a web browser has been made available by Apple. To try it out, simply search for “Apple Maps on the web.”

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